Lucky in love...

Yes, I hit the Jackpot when I married Jim, and into his family, but the point of this post is about how lucky I am that the man I chose to marry has surrounded himself with the BEST people EVER! Seriously. The friends I married into could not be better. These boys are beyond amazing. From day one, they accepted me (well all except John Lamanna but that's another story:) and protected me. Hard to do in a town like Pullman, WA. I knew I made it with his college friends when we sat around his gross apartment, playing drinking games, and I impressed them by  *ahem* "making room" for more beer. Classy, I know.

His roommate Matt was a little different story. I could never really tell if he liked me or not; and I was afraid I may have been cramping his style by always hanging around. That all changed when somehow we ended up the only ones left at the bar and we ended the night with a quality H2H, Jim McCollum style. The next afternoon, while Jim was at class, Matt made me watch Trekkies 1 and 2 with him.  Since that day I knew I was part of the crew or at least an assumed plus one of Jim's.

It has been a long eight years since then and slowly but surely more ladies have been added into the mix, and all the guys have started to settle down. I am so grateful for the women these men chose to share their lives with. We don't just put up with one another, we genuinely get a long and have a ton of fun together. I would pick any, and all of these women to be friends with; had I met them under different circumstances. I am just lucky I don't have to do that, and we are all part of the wives club now. And yes it is a club...you have to be able to pass the test of sitting thru numerous drinking nights, listening to the same college stories, over and over, and over. and over again. To make a long story longer I have known how lucky I am since the day I met them all, but it became even more evident when we ALL got together in San Francisco, this April, to celebrate Jeff and Yvette's wedding*...and a good time was had by all!

*more posts to come on this soon

puppy love...

We actually had some sun the other day so Jim and I decided to make the most of it and enjoy it while it lasted. Jim cooked up some burgers and sausages on the grill and we sat outside and played with the dogs for a bit. We were able to get them to sit still long enough for a few pictures. Don't be fooled though we had to attempt about 30 shots to get these 3, and behind the camera Jim is holding the tennis ball in order for them to "sit" and "stay". Regardless of how it happened, I was very happy with the results.

Miss Beasley McCollum age 4 1/2

Miss Bledsoe McCollum age 3 1/2

Sisters

As much as these two drive me nuts sometimes, I could not love them more. Even if these calm moments are few and far between these two faces can always help put a smile on mine. 

PS: don't be surprised if these pictures show up on this years Christmas card. As I said its very hard to get them to sit still for a picture :) 

#hungergames2012...

If you know me you know I have a tendency to become slightly obsessed with certain things, some would call it addictive personality disorder, I simply call it love and devotion. Such is the case with the Hunger Games books. I had first heard about them through my friend, Stone, a good 3 years ago, but it was not until about a year an a half ago when I was working graveyards that I finally decided to read the first one.  Not gonna lie, to me the premise sounded terrible and not anything I would be interested in but I had 8 hrs to kill and nothing better to read so the hunger games it was. 1 chapter in and I was HOOKED.   I could not put it down, nor could I shut up about it. Pretty sure I read all 3 in 5 days. Honestly something about these books just infected me and I spread it around like the flu in daycare. A few months after reading it I heard they were turning them into movies, while I was hesitant at first after seeing a couple of the castings I became just as excited to see the movies as a 12 yr old twilight fan. Since all my girlfriends had read the series and were just as obsessed as I was we began joking around that we should meet up to watch it together.  Ha ha ha that would be so funny and great but we would never actually do that...or would we?

Cut to March 24th, 2012...Moses Lake, Washington.

Me, Megs, Jax, Stone & Jamie enjoying the beautiful scenery that Moses Lake has to offer...Gotta love that beautiful water tower and potato smell.

I've decided I will never not travel with Jbass, this girl comes prepared! here we are enjoying some homemade bloody's from a Mason Jar.

Enjoying reuniting with a toast at the Moses Lake golf course. Thank God we were the only ones there!

These ladies light up my life (and apparently my eyes)!

Also this post would not be complete without a shout out to our driver, entertainer, and Moses Lake tour guide, Al.  The cub made the trip very informative and fun, so to him I would just like to say "Hi."

I hate to brag...

Aren't these two the cutest little boy and girl you ever did see! 

This is my nephew, Louis, who I call Quattro and my niece, Magdalene.

I love thier smiling faces and how happy and joyful they are. This also makes me thankful that they have eachother to grow up with and I know they will share such happy memories together, just like my siblings and I did.

Thanks for the picture Sheila!

 

PS: Aren't footie PJs adorable!?!

Miracles happen...

Miracle #1

On Friday afternoon, Bobby and Diane welcomed their beautiful baby girl, Reese Ellen LaBelle, into the world. Mommy, Daddy and Baby are all doing wonderful. No word yet on brother, Trapper :)

She is the sweetest most precious little thing you ever did see! I just want to hold her and snuggle with her all the live long day!

Miracle #2

We got Jim to go to the hospital. Which if you know Jim at all this was a HUGE accomplishment. It was touch and go for awhile but he lasted a solid 30-40 minutes before having to leave to throw up. The important thing is he made it.

And Miracle #3

Jim actually held Reese!!! In the 8 yrs Jim and I have been together I have never once seen him hold a baby that is less than a month old. And here he is holding little Reese who is less than 5 hours old. My husband is growing up :) Sorry I had to take lots of pics to prove this actually happened. I'm 100% not joking when I say Jim was probably blacked out he was so freaked. (Hospital + newborn = heart attack)

Jim and I are so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing friends and family and are so excited about all the recent additions and future additions to that group.  Next up: Harper Mae Snyder!

Here's Megs and Chris getting their practice in

And finally to prove we are not really all that grown up, at all, here we are joking around with the pads they send home with new mom's. Jim's nightmare may be hospitals but these are mine. Seriously terrifying!

Congrats Bob and Diane! We are so happy for you and love little Reese to pieces!!!!!!!!!

Anchors Away...

At the beginning of the February I was lucky enough to go to Vegas with The Girls for Landis's bachelorette party.  The weekends festivities happened to coincide with the Super Bowl so it was perfect timing for a little fun in Sin City!  8 of us gals met up from across the country: Stone, Dawn, and Jax came from Seattle. Megs, Jamie and I came from Spokane. Landis arrived from North Carolina and Carrie came from NYC. We planned our arrivals perfectly and all landed within an hour of each other. to get things started on the right foot we all met up at the airport bar to make sure everyone got in OK (and for some spicy bloody mar's-obvi).

From the airport we headed to our AMAZING suite at The Cosmopolitan! Thanks for the sweet hook up Jbass! 

After settling into our room we decided to take a looksy around our casino and try to get some food. We stopped at the chandelier bar (its literally inside a chandelier) for a celebratory toast first and then we hit the strip for some food and fun.  

After lunch it was back to the suite to open presents and try and get 8 girls ready for our first night out on the town. Not a very easy task with only 3 bathrooms, but nonetheless we succeeded!

Isn't landis the cutest bride to be you ever did see

Once out, we got our obligatory d-list celeb sighting out of the way. For those wondering its Dr. 90210. Never even seen the damn show but let me tell you I was excited at this moment (ps:I was also intoxicated)!

Once over that "excitement" it was time to dance!

Our second day started a bit later than our first. We hit up the buffet at our hotel and let me tell you this is not your old country buffet...not to mention it was a hangovers dream! well a dream for most of us, for Dawn I think it was more of a nightmare :)

After lunch Dawn, Carrie and I ventured to try and find a place to watch the Super Bowl. We had backup reservations at an English Pub off the strip but we really wanted to find someplace close and fun (and not outrageously expensive) to watch the game. As luck would have it we found it in our hotel. Poolside, lots of tv's, a bar nearby, seats for 6 (jamie and jax both left that morning), not over crowded and not super expensive. #winning!

From the game we knew we needed food badly but we still needed to get ready for our last night out. Back to the suite we go! We got ready and then headed to Scarpetta for some DELICIOUS food and wine. We even worked in a game for Landis to play while we ate...lets just say it was informative :)

With dinner done it was time to hit the club for our last night out!  We tore up the floor and had a great time.

Alas all good things must come to an end. The next afternoon (after a few mimosas and margs)

it was time to head back to reality and remind my body what its like to not have alcohol flowing thru its bloodstream 24/7.  Lets just say that took awhile, i had quite a bit to recover from :)

I love these women so much and can not wait for the wedding, in June, when we cal ALL be together again!
ps: WE MISSED YOU FULLER!!!